Deer fly plague
Photos Arne Ader
Translation Liis
Deer fly
Deer fly; Deer ked Põdrakärbes Lipoptena cervi
This year the deer fly plague started a little later than usual at least in northern Estonia. Last weekend the forests were full of the tormentors everywhere.
On emerging from the pupa the fly at once uses its wings to fly on to a nearby herb or low shrub. Luckily they are very bad flyers.
They stay in ambush in wait for a ”host animal” in order to hit the victim and hide in its fur. After that the deer fly drops its wings (breaks them off against the fur) since it presumes that it will no longer need them: it is much more comfortable to be in the dense fur.
Elks try to get rid of the tormentors in every way: the deer fly however resists scrubbing against trees, wallowing in mud and whatever else. The long legs provided with serrated claws and the body hairs on the otherwise smooth chitin skeleton help to stay in the fur cover. In Arne’s photos everything is nicely visible and in the forest you can see for yourselves.
Of course the deer fly bite but the host’s blood is necessary to carry on the species. The bite where the deer fly sucked blood mixed with its saliva will swell and itch uncomfortably for several days. In the last few years it has been observed that in sensitive people the bites may even cause allergic reactions.
On getting out of the forest a fine comb and careful threshing of clothes helps. If the deer fly plague tends to become too bad we will simply get out of forests. Being a fur-clad forest inhabitant now is definitely not enviable…
Deer fly
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